Dirt compactor unit for vacuum cleaning systems



July 21, 1959 H. P. BoRlE, 1Rv 2,895,564

'DIRT `COMPACI'OR UNIT FOR VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEMS Filed Qcl'.. 25, 1956nner ooMPAcroR UNIT Fon VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEMS Henry P. Borie, r.,Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assigner to General fElectric Company, acorporation of New York My invention relates generally to means forseparating solids and gases, and more particularly to devices forseparating dirt from a dirt-laden air stream and compacting theseparated dirt.

The wide and ever increasing use of vacuum cleaning systems hasintensified the problem of collecting and disposing of dirt which hasbeen removed out of a dirt1aden air stream. For the purposes of thispatent application, the term, vacuum cleaning systems contemplates boththe portable and built-in varieties. The portable variety includes boththe relatively small type of vacuum cleaner which is used commonly inhouseholds, and the larger type which is used in industrial or businessestablishments. The built-in variety is normally bulky, hence,non-portable, and comprises a `dirt separator which is located in someportion of the building, usually the basement, a suction creating means,usually a motor-fan unit which may be located near the dirt separator,and appropriate piping throughout the building with outlets in differentrooms which are adapted to have a vacuum cleaning hose connected tothem. The drawings illustrate my new dirt separator and compactor unitincorporated in a built-in vacuum cleaning system. However, it should beclearly understood that the instant invention is applicable to portablevacuum cleaners as well. Regardless of the variety of vacuum cleaningsystem in which the instant invention is incorporated, it performs thesame function and serves the same purpose of providing a means forcollecting and comp-acting dirt. Prior art7 vacuum cleaning systems haveutilized various types of dirt collecting means, such as the permanentcloth filter bag, the disposable, paper filter receptacle, andcentrifugal separators; however, to the knowledge of the applicant,prior art devices are not capable of compacting dirt, i.e., compressingit to reduce its bulk. Therefore, the problem of frequently disposing ofco1- lected dirt exists in prior art devices, and represents both anunpleasant and unhealthful task. The instant invention dealsparticularly with the problem of minimizing the frequency of removingcollected dirt and disposing of it.

It is an object of this invention to provide a dirt separator and`compactor unit which may be readily incorporated in either a portableor built-in vacuum cleaning system, which efficiently and effectivelyremoves dirt from a dirt-laden air stream and compacts it, and whichrequires emptying relatively infrequently.

The above and other objects of this invention are accomplished in oneform by providing a dirt separator and compactor unit which may beincorporated in a vacuum cleaning system, and which has a rotatablecylinder assembly comprising a pair of concentric cylinders, the innerone being perforate and the outer one being imperforate, and means forinitially directing a dirt-laden air stream between the cylinders, thenradially outwardly toward and against the inner surface of the outercylinder, then radially inwardly through the openings in the innercylinder, and out through an outlet in the inner 2,895,564 Patented July21, 1959 cylinder. The speed of rotation of the cylinder assembly issuch that dirt which is entrained in the air stream is separated out ofthe air stream and compacted along the inner surface of the outercylinder. The operation of the device is such that any given volume ofdirt which is separated out of the air stream `is reduced in volume toapproximately one-half of its original volume before compactingdepending upon the precise type of dirt and size of the device,particularly its diameter.

Other objects and details of that which l believe to be novel and myinvention will be clear from the following description and claims takenwith the accompany drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical sectional view of the dirt separator andcompactor unit incorporated in a vacuum cleaning system, some of latterselements being illustrated somewhat schematically;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2--2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the outer cylinder partiallyopened;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4 4 of Fig. l,and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a part of the cylinder assembly.

Referring to Fig. l, it will be observed that the vacuum cleaning systemillustrated comprises, in addition to my novel dirt separator andcompactor unit 10, the inlet pipe l2, the outlet pipe 14, the suctioncreating unit S, which is schematically illustrated and which maycomprise any conventional suction creating means, and the motor M, whichis also illustrated somewhat schematically and may be conventional.

The inlet pipe 12 is illustrated as being supported by support member16, and in turn supporting at one of its ends a vacuum cleaner hose 18,and at its other end a rotary bearing 2l). It will be understood thatthe free end of the vacuum cleaner hose 18, which is not illustrated,may have attached to it a conventional vacuum cleaning tool.

The outlet pipe 14 is supported by a support member 22, and in turnsupports at one of its ends a rotary bearing 24, and at its other endcommunicates with the suction creating unit S. The outlet pipe 14 mayinclude a detachable, filter disk assembly comprising the filter disk 26and the coupling `collar 28, which may have a threaded connection withthe adjacent portions of the pipe 14 and have an inwardly directedflange 30 which assists in positioning the filter disk 26 in place.

From the foregoing, and viewing from Fig. l, it will be `apparent thatthe inlet and outlet pipes have adjacent ends which are spaced and whichrespectively support rotary bearings. The dirtV separator and compactorunit llt), which hereinafter will be referred to simply as the compactorunit, is disposed between the adjacent pipe ends and supported by therotary bearings 20 and 24. The compactor unit essentially comprises acylinder assembly having a pair of concentric cylinders, the outer oneof which is imperforate and removable to allow access to the interior ofthe compactor unit, and the inner one of which is perforate.

From the drawings it will be apparent that the cylinder assemblystructurally comprises an integral sub-unit 32, illustrated by itself inFig. 5, and a removable outer cylinder 34. The integral sub-unitcomprises an inner perfo'rate cylinder 36, which is closed at one end bya conical wall 38 that has a plurality of radial vanes 40 formedexternally thereon and extending axially away therefrom. 'Ihe other endof the inner cylinder 36 is open and supports a radially outwardlyextending, flangelike wall 42, which in turn supports at its periphery,an axially extending, narrow cylindrical wall 44 at one axial .surface(see Figs. l and 3 side thereof, and the ends of a plurality of spaced,axially extending bars 46 at its other axial side. At the axial ends ofthe bars 46 which are remote from the wall 42, an axially extending,narrow cylindrical wall 48 and radially inwardly extending, flange-likeWall 50 having au opening 51 therein are supported.

As can best be seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the outer cylinder 34 isdetachably secured to the integral sub-unit 32 by being formed of halves52 which are hinged at one pair of their adjacent edges by hinge 54; attheir other a pair of adjacent edges, halves 52 have latch means forselectively maintaining these edges in abutment. The latch means isillustrated as comprising a protuberance 56 formed on one of the halvesand a spring latch 58 formed on the other. Ille latch arrangement issuch that the spring latch is adapted to snap over the protuberance andmaintain the adjacent edges in juxtaposition. Centrally in each of thehalves 52 are formed a plurality of openings 60 which allow the headedscrews 62 to pass therethrough and be threadedly secured in openings 64formed in a pair of opposed bars 46 (see Fig. l). From the foregoing, itshould be apparent that the outer cylinder 34 is manually detachablefrom the integral sub-unit 32 by removing the headed screws 62 andforcing the halves 52 away from each other about the hinge 54; when thisis done, the entire outer cylinder may be removed from the sub-unit.

As can be seen in Fig. l, the compactor unit is supported on the pipes12 and 14 by the narrow cylindrical walls 44 and 48 which are,respectively, supported on the rotary bearings 24 and 20. The outersurface of the narrow cylindrical wall 44 is formed with a gear Themotor M is adapted to rotate the drive shaft 66, which in turn rotatesthe driving gear 68. The driving gear 68 and the gear surface oncylindrical wall 44 are meshed and thereby provide a mechanical drivingarrangement for the compactor unit 10.

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically the flow of air through the vacuumcleaning system by the schematic arrows. To operate the system, thesuction creating unit S is energized to thereby create a flow of air asindicated by the arrows, and the motor M is energized to thereby rotatethe compactor unit 10 on the bearings 20 and 24. Both the suctioncreating unit and motor, being conventional, may operate in aconventional manner. Dirtladen air enters the vacuum cleaning tool (notshown) and flows through the vacuum cleaner hose 18 and the inlet pipe12, and enters into the compactor unit 10 through the opening 51 in wall50. Shortly after passing through the opening 51, the air contacts thevanes 40 and Wall 38 and is directed radially outwardly toward the innersurface of the outer cylinder 34; due to the combined effort of therotating vanes and suction in the system, the path of the air issomewhat that of an axial spiral in addition to its radially outwardmotion. When the dirt-laden air stream contacts the inner surface of theouter cylinder, dirt is separated from the air stream and depositedthereon by the action of centrifugal force. Air which is substantiallyfree of dirt is reflected off the inner surface of the outer cylinderand directed radially inwardly, and passes through the openings formedin the inner cylinder 36, and exits out the open end of the innercylinder into the outlet pipe 14. If a filter disk 26 is mounted in theoutlet pipe 14, it will operate to remove any fine particles of dirtwhich have not been removed by the compactor unit. After passing throughthe filter disk, substantially dirt-free air passes through the suctioncreating unit S and is discharged into the surrounding atmosphere.

In practice it has been found that extremely ecient dirt separation andcompacting results when the compactor unit is rotated at speeds in therange of 2000 to Y 4000 r.p.m., with a suction creating unit creatingvacuums which would operate conventional vacuum cleaning systems. It hasalso been found in practice that the separation of dirt out of thedirt-laden air stream is principally effected by centrifugal separationwhich occurs in the compactor unit 10. In practice it has also beenfound that with rotational speeds in the indicated range,

its original volume.

sary significantly less frequently than with prior art dirt separatingdevices. On the basis of dirt compacting ability alone, the compactorunit contemplated by thef instant invention requires removal of dirtone-half as frequently as prior art devices.

It should be realized that while the instant invention has beenillustrated as being embodied in a built-in vacuum cleaning system, itmay readily be adapted to any portable, vacuum cleaning system of thehousehold or industrial type, and further that the arrangement forremoving the compacted dirt illustrated; namely, the structure forallowing removal of outer cylinder 34 to gain access to the interior ofthe compactor unit, is merely one mechanical arrangement for allowingaccess to the interior of the compactor unit, and that it iscontemplated that many equivalent mechanical variations 'may be usedwithout departing from the spirit of the in- Vention. Lastly, it shouldbe noted that whereas centrifugal dirt separators were known prior to myinvention, to my knowledge no known device has operated in the manner ofmy invention nor incorporated the principle of centrifugal separationand compacting to reduce the volume of separated dirt.

As will be evident from the foregoing, certain aspects of my inventionare not limited to the particular details of construction of the exampleillustrated, and I contemplate that various and other modifications andapplications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore,my intention that the appended claims shall cover such modifications andapplications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

l. A compactor unit for separating solids out of an air stream andcompacting them, comprising a pair of substantially coaxial, concentric,coextensive cylinders, said pair of cylinders comprising an outer onewhich is imperforate and an inner one which is perforate, a radial wallextending between and secured to both of said cylinders at one of theiraxial ends, said inner cylinder being open at its end adjacent saidradial wall and communicating with an air outlet, the other axial endsof said cylinders being spaced, the annular space between said cylinderscommunicating with an air inlet through the space between the spacedends of said cylinders, the other axial end of said inner cylinder beingclosed and having radial vanes formed exteriorly thereon, whereby whensaid compactor unit is rotated and an air stream is forced through it,air flows into said inlet, axially into said dirt compactor unit throughthe space between said spaced cylinder ends, whereby air contacts saidvanes and is directed radially outwardly against the inner surface ofsaid outer cylinder, where dirt is separated from the air stream,deposited and compacted by the action of centrifugal force, and the airis then directed axially and radially inwardly through said angularspace and through said perforate cylinder, and axially out the open endof said perforate cylinder to said outlet.

2. A device as defined in claim l wherein means is provided for removingcompacted solids from said compactor-unit.

3. A device as defined in claim l wherein a disk filter is provided inthe path of the air stream downstream of said compactor unit.

5. A dirt compacter Aunit for use in a vacuum cleaning system comprisingan integral sub-unit and a detachable member, said sub-unit comprising aperforate cylinder open at one end and closed at the other end, aplurality of vanes formed on the exterior of said closed end, a radiallyoutwardly extending wall formed at and connected -to said open end, acylindrical wall connected to and supported by said first-mentionedwall, a plurality of spaced, elongated bars connected to and supportedby said first-mentioned wall at one of their respective axial ends andextending on axes that are parallel to the axis of said perforatecylinder to and beyond the closed end of the latter, a cylindrical wallconnected to and supported at the other ends of said bars, saidcylindrical walls being adapted to have rotary bearing contact withsupporting bearings, and said member being adapted to be detachablysecured to said sub-unit in such a manner that it surrounds said barsand encloses the portion of said sub-unit between said cylindricalwalls.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein one of said cylindrical wallshas a gear surface formed thereon which is adapted to mesh with a powerdriven gear te thereby rotate said compacter unit.

7. A device as dened in claim 5 wherein said memberl pacter unit, meansfor rotating said dirt compacter unit. and means for causing a llew ofair through said dirt compacter unit, said dirt compacter `unitcomprising a pair of substantially coaxial, concentric, ce-extensivecylinders which dene entrance means for allowing entry of dirt-laden aircentrally into one axial end of said compacter unit, means for directingthe dirt-laden air radially outwardly against the inner surface of theouter cylinder, then radially inwardly and then axially out the otherend, of said dirt compacter, whereby the dirt is separated from the airand compacted in said dirt compacter unit at the time the radialdirection of the air is reversed from, radially outwardly te radiallyinwardly.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,948,791 Halstead Feb. 27, 1934 2,007,631 Bieth July 9, 1935 2,104,683Van Rosen et al. Jan. 4, 1938 2,244,165 McFarland et al. June 3, 19412,484,491 Daugherty Oct. 1l, 1949 2,648,396 Kirby Aug. 11, 19532,709,500 Carter May 31, 1955 2,747,687 Carter May 29, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 82,993 Germany Jan.v 1, 1895

